


Late Nights and Deadlines

by Starren_Moonstone



Series: Collections from The Journalist - Whumptober Edition [20]
Category: The Magnus Archives (Podcast)
Genre: Exhaustion, Fluff, Gen, Other, What's A Whumpee Gotta Do to Get Some Sleep Around Here, Whumptober 2020, like college deadlines kind of exhaustion, without the college
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-01
Updated: 2020-12-01
Packaged: 2021-03-10 05:48:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 981
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27819265
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Starren_Moonstone/pseuds/Starren_Moonstone
Summary: Taelyn has a deadline they need to meet, and has spent the last few days trying to make it.
Relationships: Taelyn Eldfors/ Moira Bramwell
Series: Collections from The Journalist - Whumptober Edition [20]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1947499





	Late Nights and Deadlines

**Author's Note:**

> Late Whumptober - Day 23: What's a Whumpee Gotta do to Get Some Sleep Around Here? - Exhaustion

July 28th, 2016

  
Taelyn stared blankly at the word document in front of them. They know they need to put something down as the final paragraph. And at this point, anything would be better than nothing. However, the 65th hour of their writing vigil has been starting to get to them. Their head rests in their right hand, eyelids drooping on their own accord, making the words swim in front of them in their vision. Brian was going to kill them… but like, what did he matter anyway? He was an asshole. 

“Why are you still up?” comes Astra’s voice from a distance behind Taelyn. She has a hand on her hearing aid, turning it up to a respectable volume. 

“I have a deadline and I need to finish this up,” Taelyn groans, turning back to their work. It is just one more sentence. 

“…same deadline as yesterday?” they ask the writer.

“Yes. Last day of it. Has to be in Brian’s mailbox before he wakes up.”

“He’s going to notice the time stamp, isn’t he?”

“You think he cares that much?” Taelyn rolls their eyes, and closes their eyes. “He’s not a school teacher. As long as it’s there in the morning…” They wave a hand carelessly in the air.

Astra gives Taelyn a blank stare. She’s the kind of person who knows when something is a bad idea, but doesn’t really know how to address it. “Don’t fall in,” Astra eventually says, heading off to do whatever they’re going to do. 

It’s still just a sentence. There’s no good way to wrap a story about questionable warehouse mannequins. Surprisingly, it isn’t a Stranger story, it’s a Spiral one. That is not to say that the Stranger had no influence, however it was the Spiral that had a majority of control. Boxes making a winding path throughout all the warehouse, coming across things that are only just human. Never coming to life, but the possibility that they could. And maybe one did. A trick of the light? A slight movement as parts can no longer hold the arms up? 

The lights suddenly turn on, making Taelyn startle more than it should. 

“You do know that working in front of a computer screen in total darkness is bad for your eyes?” Ven’s voice comes from a nearby house speaker. 

“Your point?” Taelyn asks, their voice slurring from lack of sleep.

“Keep the lights on.”

Taelyn grunts non-committally. 

“You could just send it off the way it is and edit it later, right? This isn’t a final product.”

“And have Brian chide me for not completing a story? No.”

“It’s just a sentence.”

“Every word counts in a short story.”

There’s an odd clicking sound before an image of a scull decorated in painted spirals appears on Taelyn’s screen. “You know I don’t care, right?”

“Then why are we talking?”

“Why do you think? Come on, it’s good enough.”

Taelyn can’t think, but maybe they’d figure it out later. They scruntch their eyes up and save their draft. They somehow make their way to their email and try to type out a message for Brian. There are a lot of extra syllables and letters that aren’t needed. 

“You mortals really can’t function without sleep.”

“Thank you for noticing, Ven.” Taelyn buries their head in their arm. Just a moment… then they’ll write up the email. 

It really doesn’t have to be anything much written down. Just: “Here’s the completed draft.” Addressed and signed. Done. Maybe then Brian can get it through his head that it has been a rough year for Taelyn. They were already rightly pissed off at him for asking about stories when Taelyn finally got a hold of a phone. The whole “I won’t be working for a while due to health reasons” just flew over his head. And so much has happened since then too. Nothing bad, it was all rather good. Dating, finding a nice house to move into, having an actual social life. And while all of it is good, it’s stress that Taelyn hasn’t had to deal with in some time. It feels nice, though, to have a life outside of just work. To have interests in more than just writing. To be a fuller person…

Taelyn feels their shoulder being shaken, making their eyes open partially. Moira is in front of them, with an amused look on their face. “Good morning,” they say quietly.

Taelyn blinks a few times, raising their head slightly. “It’s still dark… it’s not morning.”

Moira chuckles a little, the tones float about the room. “It’s AM, so it’s morning enough. Come to bed.”

“I have to finish the email…” Taelyn looks over to their computer, where their email is still up. Ven’s skull icon is still drifting about on the screen.

“Ven got it,” Moira explains.

“I made sure you didn’t sound stupid,” Ven chimes in, the skull chattering proudly.

“Thanks…” Taelyn mutters, though didn’t exactly appreciate Ven’s tone.

Moira helps Taelyn to their feet and the two of them walk to their bedroom. They lean heavily into their lover, their nostrils filled with lavender-scented fragrance that usually lingers on Moira. 

“I’d like to remind you that I can’t carry you?” Moira says amused.

“You could have left me on the table.”

“You don’t mean that.”

Moira’s right; Taelyn really doesn’t. They smile contently, especially once they flop on the bed. Taelyn hugs their pillow, their head sinking into it. They feel a blanket pulled over them and arms wrapped around them. 

“Please tell me not all deadlines are going to be like this,” Moira says, taking out Taelyn’s hair tie. 

“Jus this…” Taelyn mutters, wanting to move closer to Moira but not finding the strength to do so, “Miss me?”

“Greatly.” The last thing Taelyn remembers before falling into their dreams is a gentle kiss on their forehead

**Author's Note:**

> If you like what you read and want to learn more and keep up with this content, I have a tumblr set up. beholdingwriter.tumblr.com I'll be posting up the stories on there, as well as answering questions about the characters involved in this collection of stories.


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